Berryb

Pretty sure these are Bruisers. It takes a pretty bright light to reveal that they are a dark, transparent, OD green, not opaque black. Thanks Bruce

Once, long ago, I thought of selling my collection. The woman who was going to buy it wanted it sorted and identified. By the time I was half way thru the process I decided maybe I didn't want to part with it after all. So, go thru your collection and sort how you want to. If you still want to sell then come up with a price for the whole pile. Don't forget to save out a small display of your favorites. Then divide the collection up into manageable groups- all the Akro, all the slags, all the contemporaries, etc. However you want to divide them up, and set prices for each sub-group. Then figure out how to sell. I personally would use E-bay or social media only as a last resort. Find collectors in your area to sell to or put you in contact with buyers and sell that way. Then take all the leftovers to a reputable antiques dealer and sell the pile. They will divvy those up into several small jars for 20 to 30 bucks apiece. That's how I would do it. Thanks Bruce

Got these with the pile this weekend. They are 7/8ths and reddish amber or amberish red base glass. One of them has the white on the inside too. Kinda beat up but beautiful anyway. Thanks Bruce

I measured these at 13/16ths, so just a hair over 3/4ths. So I guess not too big, I had just never heard of game pieces that large. Thanks Bruce

Picked this stuff up yesterday. sometimes ya gotta sift thru alot to get to the mibs. About 100 marbles were mixed in with this stuff. In the pile was a 29/32nds slag glass battleship. there is a pic of some of the more interesting marbles. Never saw an ox patch like this. The green opaques are way too big to be game pieces. So far the one I like best is a little green and ox prize name, it's at 12 o'clock in the 3rd pic. Thanks Bruce

So if Furnaces were only "lunch box" marbles I'm pretty lucky to have even one. Thanks Bruce

After thinking about this all night (jeeze I gotta get a life) I have come up with some conclusions/questions: The busy pattern in most of these furnace marbles is a Champion characteristic not a Furnace characteristic. This molten Wissmach glass somehow bonded to the leftover glass in the tanks and valves and pulled it along, and rather than dump it all, Champion made marbles out of it. When I think of molten glass I think of something the consistency of honey so yellow glass as a scrubbing agent is hard to visualize. Were Furnace marbles marketed separately, or mixed in with Champion's regular run marbles? This is pretty interesting stuff, Thanks again. Bruce

Thanks Al; your post has more info in it than I've been able to find out in years. Now that I have a better idea what a furnace is and what to look for I realize I probably do not have any more. I have saved a copy of your photo in my folder for reference if that's ok. Thanks Bruce

Been going thru my Junk Jar today ( I pity anyone that doesn't have at least one Junk Jar), and ran across this one I thought was really nice. It's 23/32nds. The white is actually pale lavender, there is no white on it. I'm goin' with Vitro on this one, but I'm usually wrong.

I'm still trying to wrap my head around "Furnaces". Are any of these furnaces? I'm not as interested in yes or no as I am why? Thanks Bruce

Thanks Steph; I have read over the years about marble companies, and I expect it applies to glass companies in general, some of the workers changed employers like I change socks. And if a new employee had a headful of formulas or a notebook in his pocket so much the better. Lawsuits and counter-suits abounded, but it seems that most didn't go far. I think Glass chemistry is pretty basic so the formulas (formulae?) were difficult to keep secret. It is probably because of this churn in the industry and the "industrial espionage", at least in part, that we have such a stunning variety of marbles to collect. Thanks Bruce

My daughter-in-law found it at a yard sale. I would have loved to see it complete. 4-6 of those plus a larger central vase, WOW what a pile of oxblood glass. Thanks Bruce

What says "Vitro"? I thought Vitro would have U or V shaped seams. Actually the short straight seams are what said "rainbo" to me. I've been collecting 30 years and still feel like a beginner. Just when I think I've got somethin' figured out.......ARRGGGH Vitro it is. Thanks Bruce

What's "hotwheels"? Thanks Bruce

I think this goes here. It's a piece from an Epergne. Whoever made it had access to MFC or Akro Oxblood. If it was round it would be a huge "brick". It's 19 inches long, the butt end is copper pipe. Thanks Bruce

Chad; thanks for the encouragement but I still don't know what makes it a furnace. Mine was Identified as a furnace on another site, long ago, by someone else. I have read definitions for a few years now and "furnace" is still a moving target, for me at least. Early definitions said that they were made from furnace scrapings, this has since been debunked but the name stuck. About the only characteristic that anyone seems to agree on is that they are often fractured. Your OP mib for example looks like a clearie with yellow brushed on. Don't get me wrong, It's Beautiful. But it couldn't be more different from Al's examples (also beautiful) which look more like "calligraphies", I guess what I'm looking for is the common thread. Thanks Bruce

Just going thru the "junk jar" again and found this. Is it a Rainbo? or maybe a NLR? or something completely different? The base glass is transparent, light amber. Thanks Bruce

Are there any tricks to identifying a furnace? Marble Alan had them split into several different types, but without having them in hand the descriptions made little sense, to me anyway. Is this one? thanks Bruce

I thought diaper folds were kinda 3D, you can feel 'em with your thumbnail. Not so huh? This is a pic of one I can feel. Thanks Bruce

Strain insulators. Some say pyrex but most are unmarked. Some are ceramic. Probably made by numerous companies. Thanks Bruce

These are PPPs in black and blue. Actually the black is dark, transparent OD green. Both around 5/8ths. I have heard them called bruises or bruisers, once, long ago. I also heard they were not too common. Is that true? Thanks Bruce

I don't know what specific marbles most of your terms refer to, but many names for marbles came from collectors not the manufacturers or even kids. While having a way to refer to individual marbles is handy there seem to be lots of names that are not agreed on by everyone. Then there is the added problem that many, if not most e-bay sellers (or marble sellers in general) are not marble geeks like us. They spend a few minutes with a book or worse, another seller and begin to mis-label marbles or mis-represent condition, not necessarily on purpose but because they don't know any better. Another problem is marbles that were ignored just a few years ago are now considered cool or even valuable, and agreed upon names for color combinations or styles have not kept up with the hobby or the market. Many names will become known and widely used, many will fall by the wayside. Sorry about the long winded screed. Bruce

3 groups of peewees all .5 or less. first pic has the only slag I ever saw that small. 2nd pic is all hand mades. 3rd pic has a hand cut aggie. Thanks Bruce

So far I like 'em all. I have one like the green & yellow (top left 1st group) I've been wondering about. I'd call the one right below it a CAC. My favorite is the cork in the center of the 2nd group, but then I never met a cork I didn't like. Nice score Bruce

CAC because of the long, raggedy seam. MFC because of the 9. Akro because of the whiskers. But not a very good 9, and not many whiskers, so that leaves CAC. I guess wrong most of the time, so what does that leave. Thanks Bruce